Two Teasers

ok, here's a taste of:

Kyoto...





and the Moon in Mori-G...



(from my balcony)


that's it for now...



i think i will wear a Fundoshi for my inaugural school visit with the principal on Friday.

Halle - Looooo JAH!!!





Ladies and Gentlemen...I have a chair in my apaato.

a real live, four-legged, standard height (none of this leg-less ``backpad`` on the ground b+llsh+t) sOFt and Comfy CHAIR.


pictures of this fabulous new addition and more will be coming soon. we just signed up for YahooBB internet today in Umeda...and according to our lovely engrish-speaking salesperson Emi it should only take these snails a MONTH to get us online. O_o

stay tuned...

Coming `atcha from Kyoto... - Tuesday, August 22 2006

communication is at an all-time low...still haven`t received my ALIEN registration card yet in the mail (we need it to sign up for Internet accounts) so i`m still feeling a bit disconnected, but that`s ok. after all...i am an Alien!

checked out a festival in Kyoto called Daijimon (some thing for honoring ancestors) last Saturday. basically tons of people come out to Kyoto along the riverbanks to see big kanji characters of fire lit up by people holding torches on the mountainsides (kinda like our Symphony of Fire, except no music. just as crowded/crazy around town though). after that the subways/trains were just mad rammed so we decided to stick it out around town and wound up finding some falafel place run by an extremely anti-Bush/anti-american Israeli guy. my kinda place! a few days of work here n there (just going into the Board of Education for some `meetings` again) and some bumming around the city and not much else has been going on.

the weather`s finally been cooling down a bit (i still have to sleep w/ the ac on though. if i don`t, i wake up at 4am with my neck/back soaking wet...blegh..nasty) so today i decided to hop on the Keihan train line today and zip up North to Kyoto. when we were up there for the festival we didn`t really get a chance to see the city too much since we came up for the evening only, so i thought i`d check it out on my own. lots of older/historical sites here...temples etc...i keep forgetting to bring a USB stick along with me and the comp here at the cafe has free USB slots...but oh well, you guys don`t come here just for the eye candy right? you actually CARE about what i have to say. right?

uuhh...right.

sorry, i`ll try to remember the pictures next time. =P

i`d go into detail and try to describe my apartment and the city etc...but i`ll let the pictures do the talking later hopefully.

some quick observations/questions i have after nearly 2 weeks of being in my town:

1. too many Japanese guys pluck their eyebrows

2. my Japanese really sucks. most conversations when i walk into a store go something like this:

Japanese person: ohiyo gozaimsu! dozo blabalbalbabla...(good morning/hi! please...)

Me: arigato...err...sumimasen, nihongo wakarimasen (thanks...sorry, i don`t speak japanese)

(cue excessive grinning and nodding)

then, depending on the language level of the other person we either just exchange smiles and hand motions then continue about our business...or it could go like today in Kyoto where the girl spoke `chotto eeigo` (little english) and we talked about where i come from, and tat2s...and THEN more of the smiling/nodding etc...

3. japanese food SEEMS like a good deal/cheap when you order, but then when they bring you the plate it`s like a fraction of what the picture shows! they should really have a spot in the menu that says pictures are shown at a 1:100 ratio O_o

4. i`ve learned how to pass for a Japanese (if i keep my mouth shut). i went and got myself these ￥780 (about $7.80) `assassin` glasses, a funky striped tank top (￥390!) and sported my camo cut-offs, flipflops and a scruffy goatee into town...it worked like a charm!

5. beware the grannies riding their `mama-chachi` bicycles (the ones w/ the curvy handlebars and front/rear baskets) who zigzag around town while TEXTING on their cellphones! i haven`t had a crash yet, but it`s been pretty close!

6. Japanese girls wear WAY too much makeup

7. Itadakimasu! you always say this before you eat when sitting down to a meal with a group of people. heck, it`s so much fun i sometimes feel like saying it when i eat by myself at McDonald`s...but then i get funny looks...

8. always carry an umbrella. last week me n the 2 other guy JETs here in Moriguchi got caught in a tropical rainstorm (passing typhoon shower?) while doing a grocery run. there were 4 stores en route and at store number 3 we were just loading up our rides w/ groceries when out of bloody nowhere the floodgates opened up and started to giv`er! we waited for about 10minutes inside the store hoping it`d pass but it didn`t look good so i asked the kawaii chikku cashier for some extra plastic bags to stick our valuables in and we kamikazied it down the street through the puddles/torrential rain to checkpoint number 4. should`ve seen the funny looks we got from people as we walked into the produce section of the last store sopping wet. ahh...never a dull moment in Mori-G.

ok, time`s up.

gonna be heading down South tomorrow to Rinkutown for a JET conference from Wed-Fri. more free hotel rooms...which means no more sleeping on the floor!

Ja ne...

still alive

i'll keep this quick.

computer's messed, no local internet access yet, but it's been crazy non-stop full-day excursions for the past 6 days:

Monday/Tuesday - Tokyo arrival/orientation
Wednesday - off to Osaka Prefecture via Shinkansen (bullet train)==>then to Moriguchi City, meet other Mori-G JETs
Thursday - Official ceremony w/ Superintendent
Friday - Off to Osaka City: Yodabashi Camera (this place dwarfs Best Buy/Future Shop), and another shopping metropolis in Namba
Saturday - OSAKA for SUMMERSONIC 2006 (bands we saw: All American Rejects, Fallout Boy, the Kooks, Arctic Monkeys, Fort Minor, DJ Shadow, Tool, Massive Attack

signing off from the 'hood'...this is quite the place to be...

but don't worry, know that i still miss you all out here in Mori-G.

Prepare to Launch Crash... - Friday, August 4 2006

there once was a turtle; just slowly plodding along, minding his own business while moving along the road of life. then the path kind of curved and wandered over towards the ocean, and so the turtle began walking along the sea shore, enjoying the view. then one day he got nudged into the water, unexpectedly, but he maintained his composure and felt his way about the choppy waters until he started feeling comfortable. a little more time and now he's finally swimming out to sea...about to make his way across the Pacific to Japan for a spectacular crash-landing on the shores of Osaka.

now waaaitaminute...
!O_o!
(how in the world did this happen?!)

not too long ago, this same turtle also crash-landed in Waterloo *dazed and confused* as well...so although this whole Journey to Japan is something new; the feeling isn't quite. in the former episode, despite the initial shock and concern about entering new territory on the East coast, the experience was indeed positive; one that was both physically and spiritually refreshing.

so i guess this time around it's not so new; coming out of one experience and waking up in a completely different place...like waking up from a dream and finding yourself in another world almost. i think i will look forward to becoming a veteran of these "crash-landing" experiences. actually, this seems to be a pattern in this life of mine, so i don't think i have a choice. these next 12 months are probably gonna be crazy...i just don't know it yet. =P

i know this guy's a bit of a weirdo, but this song is cool. i think i know a bit more now about how poor old Major Tom feels as he drifts:








"...saw the lightning flash, now i hear the rolling thunder... gotta keep my head above the water now, life is moving fast..."